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Negative Capitalism: Cynicism in the Neoliberal Era Paperback – March 16, 2013
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- Print length182 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherZero Books
- Publication dateMarch 16, 2013
- Dimensions5.52 x 0.47 x 8.53 inches
- ISBN-101780992602
- ISBN-13978-1780992600
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--Paul Mason, BBC Newsnight Economics Editor and author of Why It's Kicking Off Everywhere, and Meltdown
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- Publisher : Zero Books (March 16, 2013)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 182 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1780992602
- ISBN-13 : 978-1780992600
- Item Weight : 7.7 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.52 x 0.47 x 8.53 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #6,792,398 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #7,076 in Political Economy
- #11,274 in Economic Conditions (Books)
- #18,109 in Political Philosophy (Books)
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I have felt for a while that there has been enough postmodern criticism (they do call it critical studies, after all). We have been a little short on the use of thinkers like Deleuze and Spinoza for the very difficult task of figuring ways for the creative desires of the multitude to progress. Taylor's work in this space is very well informed and simply impressive. I cannot recommend him too much.
The work is challenging. There were a few arguments where Taylor made me cringe, but it is all well thought out. I suppose every review should point out some negative, so I have to say I thought the criticism of Negri was a little on the light side. That said, this is a wonderful book. If you care about ways we in the multitude can work or ways out of the situation in which we find ourselves (a situation which is really bleak) you should read this book.
Society, in his view, has taken on a "new social contract" imposed since mid-twentieth century. It is tech-based and consumer-oriented in which daily existence is reduced to the flow of money, who gets it and who doesn't. Sadly, according to Taylor, the current generation (millennials) are chasing overburdening debt while their lives revolve around Wi-Fi hookups at cafes--the "non-places" of modern business--visits to Facebook and the mall, where chasing product sales dictate the pleasures of modern man.
In his well-presented argument, Taylor calls for a organized movement, a "coming together" if you will, to "disrupt the institutions of financial capital," society's trolls whose existence is beholden to "neoliberal theory." He hopes that "charismatic working-class leaders" will capture the public's interest and offer the organizational skills needed to affect change. In the meantime, Taylor is quick to denounce the political philosophy of the last four decades that has eroded a generation's financial future: the conservative policies of Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and Tony Blair, in particular.
For American readers who want insights into the recent Occupy Movement and its displeasure with the cabal of international finance, Negative Capitalism is an excellent primer for a taste of the European point of view. However, despite his vilification of capitalism Taylor is not a communist in the old sense of the word. Though he believes that workers' associations should own and manage a productive society, he eschews the tyranny of communism's past because it required "totalitarian measures to ensure its own security."
Taylor's argument in Chapter Eight, "New Flesh: Non-Places and Gonzo Porn" posits an interesting premise on how pornography influences today's consumer. However, it is fraught with generalities, in particular his reference to tube sites and how they promote amateur porn. His assertion about the loss of "the expertise of the adult movie star" is not entirely accurate as much of pirated commercial porn appears on tube sites. His reference to the "ecstatic eye of the amateur actor [gay porn] or actress gazing back into the camera lens" --a nod to gonzo porn--and how that raises doubts about real orgasms is an interesting question, but many of those performers are getting fewer dollars for their work than ever before.
The irony of Taylor's assumptions is that tube sites are stealing the product of the studios who are the financial engines of the business. As a consequence, professional performers and shooting crews are impoverished.
Negative Capitalism is a tough read if one is unfamiliar with British politics. A little research is needed to get the full benefit of Taylor's proposals. Nevertheless, his conclusion is thoughtful and worthy of discussion. His comment about the political Left points out its current disconnect with today's youth. Simply put, the Left's "moral righteousness and elitist language" gets in the way of its political usefulness. To move forward, the Left needs to embrace a more optimistic and tech-driven strategic position to engage everyone. The author goes on to say that "a Left-wing revolt against negative capitalism . . . [lacks] a democratic base" while the specter of "far-Right politics of religious or political nationalism" remains at hand.
Though he does not see violence as the answer, Taylor calls on the metaphoric "villagers" to storm "the restrictive Castle walls of fear, cynicism, and repressive morality."
Offering a list of upheavals necessary to achieve a political and economic future utopia, Taylor concludes with the following: "It is the fearful villagers . . . who alone have the potential to destroy the castle, in a violent anonymous revolt which destroys the financial and information control architectures."
Echoing the old Marxian chant of the last century, it is the workers in whom the answer lies.
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I have been reading this along with Jodi Dean's Democracy and Other Neoliberal Fantasies: Communicative Capitalism and Left Politics, a detailed examination of Left politics and the 'communicative capitalism' which has perpetuated the Left's inaction and the radical and revolutionary take over of the New Right and Dean's The Communist Horizon. Read together they suggest radical solutions to radical banality in both discourse, inaction and the online fantasies of contemporary Left politics. It is both depressing and one of a paradoxical optimism, an 'optimistic violence', which is really worth considering seriously, his analysis is well worth engaging with.
This book was written by a twenty-four year old, which shows the various voices presented by Zer0, one of the most important series of books presently being produced in the UK, especially as a new generation of the Left: Owen Jones, Laurie Penny, Simon Hardy, and of course, J. D. Taylor. An inspiration to aspiring writers like myself.
I look forward to Mark Fisher's latest publication on Zer0: Ghosts of My Life, which I have been waiting for now for a couple of years, and the next work of Taylor and the up and coming New Radical Left in the UK.
The author seems to mistake density for profoundness.
I mean, there are literally whole sentences (!) repeated along the book.